


Four Horsemen and a Baby

by LexLemon



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Calling the Horsemen ‘mature adults’ is an absolute lie, Comedic Team Building, Dylan’s constant mood is Tired and So Done, Everyone has it out for Daniel because what else is new, Gen, Henley has sole control over the Horsemen’s one (1) brain cell, Jack doesn’t know anything about babies, Just a big ol’ fluff fic, Pansexual Merritt McKinney, Rated T for language and a story Merritt tells in Chapter 1, Team Building, With some magic tricks here and there, adventures in babysitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexLemon/pseuds/LexLemon
Summary: Dylan asks the Four Horsemen to look after a member of the Eye’s baby for an afternoon. This should be perfectly fine...right?
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

It was rare for the Four Horsemen to have quiet days. Normally, half of their days were spent gathering as much information about their target as possible then practicing for their surprise shows around the country. The other half was spent bickering with each other around their Queens hideout. The day started out like it would be the latter, but it ended up not being that way.

The members were left to lounge about their hideout, waiting for news from their leader about the day's itinerary. Merritt McKinney and Henley Reeves sat on opposite ends of the couch pressed against one of the gray walls, their feet dangling off the edge to hit the floor. Jack Wilder stared at them as he leaned against a steel column, listening in on the story Merritt was telling with a smile.

"So I told him, 'Look, screwing you isn't the problem here. I'm happy to do it. The problem is that you want us to go all the way back to campus to do it when we're standing on a perfectly good frat house porch.' And he whined at me for a couple more minutes, but I could tell that he was getting just as horny as I in that moment."

Henley winced at her friend. "Don't tell me you hypnotized him."

"No! Oh my god, no!"

Henley pressed her hand to her chest and threw her head back, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I'm a little bastard, Henley, but I'm not a monster."

"You scared me there for a minute, buddy," Jack said.

"No, I read his mind instead. I used my charm—which has a very high success rate, if I do say so myself—I read his mind, and told him that I knew he wanted to do this as much as I did right then and there. So why not just do it now? So we did it."

"You did not!" Henley said.

"Yeah."

"Right on the porch?"

"Right on the porch."

"Please tell me some frat guys found you," Jack said with a smirk.

"Nope."

" _What_?"

"I'm serious."

"How?"

"They were blasting music inside, were drunk as all hell, and were screwing their own girls. They didn't care about two uninvited guests to their party."

Henley leaned back against the arm of the couch. "Wow."

"Crazy, right? And that's a true story."

The door to the hideout then swung open, bringing the Horsemen to bolt up and turn to it with a smile.

"Dyl-"

Their faces turned into frowns when they saw it wasn't their leader at the door but their fourth member, J. Daniel Atlas, instead.

"Oh," they chorused.

Daniel paid them no mind as he took off his coat and hung it up. "Yeah, nice to see you guys too." He then walked over to the others and stood before the couch. "So have we made any progress for tomorrow's show?"

Henley gave him a baffled scoff.

Jack said, "Daniel, I think we're pretty prepared for it."

"Are we?"

"Yeah, Dylan told us yesterday that it was perfect. I don't think we need to go too intense for practicing today."

"I don't know. I thought we were a little lacking."

"'Lacking?'" Henley repeated.

Merritt scoffed. "Says you."

"You're going to trust Dylan over one of your own teammates?"

The Horsemen gave Daniel their answers in unison.

"Yes."

"Absolutely."

"Every time."

Daniel shrugged. "Fine. Don't blame me if Boston thinks we suck tomorrow." He then made his way over to a wall and took a deck of cards out of his pocket to shuffle them.

The door swung open again, causing the Horsemen to jump up once more. This time, it was their leader walking in.

Dylan Rhodes looked just as tired as he usually did, if not a little more. A hint of a smile began to appear on his face when he saw the Horsemen staring back at him with eager grins. No matter how much shit the world threw at him, the pure joy his team had whenever they saw him was always enough to give him hope that things could get better.

"Dylan!" the Horsemen greeted in enthusiastic voices.

"Hey, guys." Dylan tried his best to sound happy to see them, but the exhaustion creeped out.

The Horsemen's eyes fell onto the items that Dylan had brought with him, their presence making them raise their eyebrows. In one hand, he held onto the handle of a black car seat, where two tiny white socks poked out from the bottom. The other held onto the strap of a lime green diaper bag decorated with stitched-in designs of orange butterflies in flight.

Henley was the first to acknowledge them, as she bent to her knees and let out a loud gasp. "You have a _baby_?"

"Relax. She's not mine." Dylan let the bag fall onto the floor and placed the car seat onto a table in the center of the room.

Merritt said, "I was going to say. I was ready to ask what you'd been doing these past couple of months."

The Horsemen made their way over to the table and tilted their heads at the blonde baby sitting before them in a pink, heart-patterned onesie.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Claire," Dylan said.

Henley pulled out a chair and sat in it to face the baby. "Hello, Claire," she said, her voice going an octave higher. "Aren't you the cutest thing?"

Claire gave Henley a gum-filled smile, making her choke up and place her hand over her heart. She turned to Dylan and said, "She's precious."

Daniel was unphased by Claire's appearance, as he stared at her with a blank face. Aiming the same face at Dylan, he asked, "So, uh, why do you have a baby?"

Dylan gripped onto the back of a chair and sighed. "Two weeks ago, one of my colleagues in the Eye asked if I could look after her kid for the day while she did a show with her team. I said yes because I knew that I wasn't going to be busy. At least, the Horsemen side of me wasn't. This morning, that asshole Cowan tells me that we have to go over the details of a new murder case and conduct an investigation. Knowing him, it's going to take all day. I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't bring Claire around with me all day, and no one there can handle looking after a baby. But it looks like that's the only option I got."

"We can do it!" Henley said.

All eyes turned to her eager face, Dylan's conveying the most shock. "Really?"

"Dylan, you have four capable adults with open schedules standing right before you. We can devote our day to babysitting. Sure thing."

"What about tomorrow's show? How do you feel about it?"

Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but Merritt beat him to it. "We feel great. You've seen us practicing like hell every day, and you even said yesterday that we did great. I don't think we'll be caught up with rehearsing too much today."

"A-Are you sure you guys can handle this, though?"

"Come on, Dylan. You can trust us," Jack said.

Dylan tucked his lips in and gave them a doubting glance.

"You _do_ trust us, don't you?"

"How honestly do you want me to answer that?"

"Dylan, relax." Henley stood up and placed her hand on Dylan's shoulder. "Look, the four of us can handle one baby. I promise. You go be a good FBI agent while we do our part for the Eye and help them out."

Dylan let out a sigh of relief as he felt a smile creep onto his face. "You guys are the best."

"Was there, uh, anything else you needed to tell us?" Daniel spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, no. I really just came here to ask about the progress on tomorrow's show. But now that you've got Claire, I'll come back when the investigation's over to pick her up." Dylan began making his way to the door at a rapid pace, glancing back at the Horsemen now and then. "If you need anything or have any questions, just call me. Believe me, I will be begging to leave this meeting, so don't hesitate. You guys are really saving my hide."

"You can count on us," Merritt called with a wave.

Dylan opened the door and leaned against the doorframe to take a breath. "Thanks, guys."

The door then shut behind him, leaving the Horsemen alone with their new assignment for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

Henley was the first to scoop Claire out of her seat and place her into the crook of her arm.

"Okay, sweetie," she said in a warm voice. "We are going to have so much fun today! Yeah, we are. The four of us are going to take good care of you."

"Um, no, no. Not the four of us," Daniel said. "I'm not included in this."

"Uh, yeah, you are."

"No, I never agreed to uprooting my day to babysit. Babysitting isn't even my thing. Magic is my thing, okay? So I am going to do what I do best. You three can have fun with your new child."

Henley sat with Claire in her lap on the couch, giving Daniel a stern glance. "Well, I told Dylan that the four of us would watch her, and I would like to keep to that."

"Well, Dylan will just have to be disappointed. This is his fault, anyway. You know he was trying to shove her onto us for the day so he could go play FBI."

"Hey man, I don't know anything about babies, but even I'm willing to help out with this," Jack spoke up.

Henley gestured to him with a proud smile. "Thank you, Jack. I knew you would want to be a part of this."

"Yeah, because he's a suck-up," Daniel said.

Jack shrugged as he sat beside Henley. "Hey, I'm not the one scared of babies."

"I'm not sca-" Daniel rolled his eyes as he turned to the side. "Merritt, back me up on this. I'm sure you don't want to be involved in this."

"Well, hello, Claire!" Merritt had placed himself on the other side of Henley, sticking his face close to Claire's. He began running his finger along her chin and making her laugh, his voice going up higher than usual. "You're such a cutie patootie. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You're a cutie."

Feeling Daniel's eyes on him, Merritt looked over and shrugged. "What? I love kids. What's your excuse?"

"Do you guys even care that we have a show tomorrow?"

The other Horsemen ignored him as they played with Claire, making nonsense noises in her face as she continued to laugh.

Daniel rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Fine. You guys can have fun with your new friend. Meanwhile, I'm going to go do our job and actually rehearse so the Eye doesn't think that we're a joke."

With a huff, he walked off to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall. He took out his deck of cards and began shuffling, shaking his head with narrowed eyes.

Henley gave Claire a small bounce as the others crowded around her. "You are in very good hands, Claire. The Horsemen are going to be the best babysitters ever. You got Mr. Merritt, Mr. Jack, and Miss Henley to take care of you, and we will make sure of that." She tapped her finger onto Claire's nose, making the baby giggle.

Merritt gave Daniel a quick side eye as he said, "Mr. Daniel would be taking care of you as well, but he's decided to be a big fun sponge today."

"I'm not a fun sponge,” Daniel said. “I just have better things to do than taking care of a kid we only met today whose mother is someone we don't even know."

"Hey, I thought you were staying out of this."

Daniel stared straight ahead, his hands still rapidly shuffling, before bringing his head back down with a sigh.

Henley turned to Jack and found that his face had turned pale as he shifted around in his seat. "Are you nervous, Jack?"

"I don't know. I guess I just don't want to mess up."

"No one _wants_ to mess up with babies, Jack."

"Yeah, that's the whole point of having kids in the first place," Merritt said. "You mess up as many times as you can with the first one so you can learn from it and be more aware with the second one. Although, in my parents' case, the reverse happened." He pointed his index fingers in opposite directions to emphasize his point.

Jack said, "But you and Chase are twins."

"My point still stands."

Henley shook her head with a smile. Turning back to Jack, she held Claire out to him.

"Here. Hold her in your lap."

"O-Okay."

Jack held out his arms so Claire would have room to sit on his lap. Once he felt her on his thigh, he wrapped his arms around her to have a grip. Jack looked down at Claire and saw her look up at him with her large blue eyes full of curiosity.

"Hey. I got it," he said.

Henley said with a smile, "See? It's nothing to be scared of."

Jack ran his finger along Claire's arm to keep her gaze on him, his smile growing by the second. "Hey, Claire. Nice to meet you."

"Watch this. Kids get a kick out of this," Merritt whispered to Henley. He then turned to Claire and waved his hand at her.

"Hey. Hey, Claire. Claire, look at me. Claire."

"Oh, hey. Look at Mr. Merritt."

Jack pointed ahead and gave Claire a small bounce, bringing her to turn to Merritt. The baby gave Merritt a large smile, bringing his mouth to do the same.

"Hi. I'm going to do a little trick for you. Watch this."

Merritt took off his fedora and placed it over his face, eliciting a gasp from the others.

"Where did Mr. Merritt go, Claire?" Henley asked.

Claire's smile faded as her mouth formed into a small O instead. In an instant, Merritt pulled his fedora down to reveal his beaming face underneath.

"Peekaboo!"

Henley and Jack awed together as Claire giggled and clapped her hands.

"There he is!" the former said.

The game went on for several rounds before Henley took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall across the way. "Oh geez, it's noon already?" She placed her finger in Claire's hand and gave it a small shake. "You're probably hungry, sweetie. Let's go see what your mom packed for you."

Henley picked herself up from the couch and made her way over to the bag on the table. She rifled through it for a moment before pulling out a small, sealed bowl of orange slices.

"Aha! Perfect."

Henley took a small pink spoon as well then brought the bowl back to the others. She waved it before Claire and said, "Look what I found for you."

As she sat down, she looked over at Jack and cocked her head. "Do you want to feed her, Jack?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure."

"Alright! And the boy becomes a man," Merritt said.

Jack rolled his eyes as he placed Claire into Henley's lap and took the bowl from her. He twisted the lid off then dug the spoon into the orange slices. He made a sneer as he pulled the orange mush out and held it up.

"Babies really eat this stuff?"

Henley shrugged. "Apparently."

"Hey, we all did too at some point," Merritt said.

Jack said, "You know what? That's a good point." He shifted in his seat then bent down to Claire's level. "Alright, Claire. Are you ready?"

Claire gave no response, instead staring at him with a blank face.

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

"Just go for it," Henley said.

Jack moved the spoon closer to Claire's mouth, prompting her to open it. She took the oranges without a fight, allowing Jack to slide the spoon out with ease as she chewed.

The Horsemen let out a small cheer and clapped for Claire with warm smiles.

"Good job, Claire!" Henley said, bouncing her on her leg. She looked over at her friends and let out an exhale. "See, guys? I knew we could do this. We have nothing to worry about."


	3. Chapter 3

Henley, Jack, and Merritt stood side by side before the couch, watching with the same pensive expression as Claire cried from her seat. Merritt was the first to react, as he started to walk away and said, "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Henley scoffed at him then turned to Jack, shaking her head when she found him backing away as well. "Oh, come on, guys! We have to calm her down somehow."

"Yeah, but I don't know how to do that," Jack said.

Merritt added, "I don't work well once they start crying."

"So you're just going to leave me to do all the work. I see how it is." Henley turned around and started, "Da-"

She waved her hand once she saw Daniel still shuffling cards against the wall, now with the addition of black earbuds in his ears.

"Forget it. He's no help." Henley sighed as she bent to her knees and ran her fingers along Claire's cheek. "Hey, Claire. Shhhh. It's okay, sweetie. It's okay. Don't cry, sweetie. Th-There has to be some way to cheer you up."

Henley looked around the room in a panic until she focused on Daniel again. Her eyes fell onto the floor as she mumbled, "Music." She snapped her fingers.

"Guys, I got it. My parents used to sing me this when I was little. It has to work. Okay."

Henley shifted herself before Claire and gave the baby's hand a squeeze. "Hey. Hey, Claire." She took in a breath and flashed a smile at Claire, her brown eyes sparkling in the sparse sunlight shining through.

_Who’s peeking out from under a stairway,_

_Calling a name that’s lighter than air?_

_Who’s bending down to give me a rainbow?_

_Everyone knows it’s Windy._

All at once, Claire's crying grew quieter. She'd brought it down to a moan, but her face was beginning to grow less red.

Henley let out a small sigh in relief then prepared to launch into the next verse. While this went on, Daniel stopped his shuffling and glanced over at the scene. He paused the Panic! At The Disco song playing on his phone and popped one of his earbuds out to listen in.

As Henley began the second verse, she heard Merritt walk over and sing along as well. She gave him a frantic wave, bringing him to kneel alongside her and sing to Claire.

_Who’s tripping down the streets of the city,_

_Smiling at everybody she sees?_

_Who’s reaching out to capture a moment?_

_Everyone knows it’s Windy._

"How do you all know this?" Daniel asked.

The others ignored him and continued into the bridge, with Jack now joining as well.

_And Windy has stormy eyes_

_That flash at the sound of lies._

"How does _Jack_ know this?" Daniel asked, his head shaking in shock.

_And Windy has wings to fly_

Henley _: Above the clouds._

Jack _: Above the clouds._

Merritt _: Above the clouds._

All _: Above the clouds!_

Merritt then began to whistle the flute solo portion of the song, ultimately bringing a smile to Claire's face. A small giggle escaped from her mouth as she clapped her hands, making the Horsemen smile as well.

The group let out a cheer as they threw their arms up, turning to each other to high five.

"Alright! We did it!" Jack said.

Henley said, "I told you we could!"

"Teamwork makes the dream work," Merritt added.

Daniel made his way over to the group as Henley took Claire into her arms and picked her up. "Okay, I just want to know how you all know that song. Jack especially because that song's from, like, 1967."

"I don't know. I didn't know we needed to have reasons to know old songs," Jack said with a blank face.

Merritt gave Daniel a smack in the arm. "Look who's talking! You act like you were listening to this song back in the 60s."

Daniel opened his mouth then quickly closed it, wagging his finger as he looked down at the floor. "Yeah, okay. You got me there."

"Well, thank you for gracing us with your presence anyway, Daniel. It's always good to be reminded that the little, nagging voice at the back of my head is in fact still there."

"Shut up."

"Boys, let's not forget about our guest here," Henley said. She turned to Claire and gave her a bounce. "Okay, little lady. What are we going to do with you?"

She glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall and shrugged with a hum. "You could probably do with a nap right now."

"Couldn't we all?" Merritt mumbled as he tilted his head back.

Jack asked, "Well, how are we going to put her to sleep? If anything, I think we just helped her stay awake with the song."

"Merritt could do it," Daniel said.

Merritt turned to face him. "What?"

"I mean, you do that all the time with your act. Well, not in the sense that you're boring. I didn't mean it like that. Although, I could make an argument for that."

"Is there a point to this, Atlas?" 

"What I'm trying to say is that when you hypnotize people, part of what you do is put them to sleep, right? I mean, that's what you say at the beginning." 

Merritt felt his mouth open as he stared at Daniel with wide eyes. "I'm not _hypnotizing_ a baby, if that's what you're implying!" 

"Okay, does anyone have any _humane_ ideas of what we could do?" Henley spoke up.

Jack gestured to Daniel with a smirk. "Daniel seems to have all the ideas right now. Why don't we let him try something with her?"

Daniel took several steps back, his hands held up for protection. "No, no. I already told you guys that I'm not involved in this."

"You became a part of this when you came over here. Now take care of the kid," Merritt said.

Henley turned to Daniel with pleading eyes. "Please, Danny? You could just hold her for a minute while I look for something in her bag."

Daniel winced at his friend as his shoulders slumped.

"Thank you."

Henley handed Claire over to Daniel then walked over to her bag at the table. Daniel kept Claire at arm's length and sneered, earning scoffs from his teammates.

"Daniel!" Merritt and Jack chorused.

Daniel scoffed. "Okay, fine." With a sigh, he pulled Claire into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "Hello, Claire. Don't get used to this. You'll be back with Henley in a minute."

Claire took to Daniel on impact, as she pressed herself close to him and made a small exhale. Her eyes began to close as she raised her arms to rest her head on them, the move earning the Horsemen’s shock.

"Hey, look at that, Daniel. You had it in you all along," Jack said.

Daniel shook his head. "Apparently."

"Wait, what?" Henley made her way back to the group and made a small gasp. "Wow! Way to go, Danny."

She then took out her phone and snapped a picture of the two, causing Daniel's eyes to widen.

"Don't you dare."

"No way. This has to be documented."

"You know, I don't know why we didn't just let Daniel take care of it in the first place," Merritt spoke up. "He's always good at making people fall asleep in seconds."

Daniel gave his friend a glare that was soon followed by him flipping the bird, a gesture that was made all the more cute by the sleeping Claire in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the song the Horsemen were singing in this chapter in case you wanted to know about this lovely 60s ear worm: https://youtu.be/bPYT9Vyu62A


	4. Chapter 4

Henley gently placed Claire into her seat then stepped back, watching as the baby slept in peace. Her hands were outstretched as she backed up, and she heaved a sigh of relief when Claire stayed still. She then walked back to the others with her shoulders slumped in ease.

"Okay, Claire is officially asleep. We have an hour to do whatever we want," she whispered.

Daniel said, "Great. Let's practice for our show tomorrow."

The Horsemen tilted their heads back with a quiet groan.

"Why did I know he was going to say that?" Merritt said.

"I don't know. Maybe we should."

All eyes turned to Jack, who was rocking on the balls of his feet with his hands in his pockets. When he saw their shocked faces, he shrugged.

"We have the extra time, so we might as well use it."

"But I thought you were the one saying that we were prepared for tomorrow," Merritt said.

Jack's eyes glanced onto the floor while the words stuck to the back of his throat. "I mean, yeah, I did. And I do think we're fine. I don't know. Maybe we could at least practice our trick just to be sure."

"Kid, we practiced it plenty of times. Now I will admit that I may have caused a faux pas or two in the beginning, but I got the hang of it now. Honest."

Jack shook his head with a smile, letting out a small sigh. "Alright. Show me."

Merritt rubbed his hands together with a laugh. "Let's do this."

Merritt made his way to the other side of the room while Jack approached Henley with a deck of cards. "Henley, pick a card then take a look at it."

"Don't mind if I do." Henley slipped her fingers through the deck and pulled out the four of hearts. "Can I show it to Danny?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Henley held the card over her shoulder with a smile, causing Daniel to give a knowing nod as he stood in the back with his arms crossed.

Jack said, "Alright. Now, put it back in the deck."

Henley did so then took a step back as Jack crossed to the opposite side of the room.

"Okay, so Merritt and I then talk about our skills. I have my card throwing, Merritt's got mentalism, blah, blah, blah."

"I'm sorry. Did you just say, 'blah, blah, blah?'" Daniel asked with raised brows.

Merritt gave him an absent wave. "Look, our setup lines aren't something we need to think of right now. Those come better on the fly."

"So you don't know what you're going to say yet?"

"No, we'll think of it tomorrow," Jack said.

A smirk began to appear on Daniel's face. "So you _admit_ that we're not prepared for tomorrow."

"Would you let us do our goddamn trick, Atlas?" Merritt asked.

Henley gave Daniel a stern glance. "Danny, leave them alone."

"Alright, alright. Carry on with your blah, blah, blah," Daniel said with a wave.

"Thank you." Jack sighed. "Now as I was saying, Merritt and I will talk about our skills. And I'll also mention that I can do-" With a shake of his hand, the deck of cards disappeared from Jack's grasp, making them nowhere in sight. "-sleight of hand."

"So then, I go into a whole spiel of how I bet Jack can throw a bunch of cards at me and I can guess which one is the one Henley pulled." Merritt made a quiet clap as he faced Jack. "You ready?"

Jack shook his hands and conjured three cards to appear in each hand. "Yup."

"Let's have it."

Jack then threw the cards one by one in rapid fire, and Merritt caught each one with ease. He then tossed each one to the ground and kept one hand ready for the next one that came his way. Once the fifth card was thrown, Merritt said, "Stop!"

Jack took a breath as he stood back up to form, wiping the sweat from his brow. Merritt made his way over to Henley with the card in hand and held it up to her in his palm.

"Henley, I already know the answer to this, but I just wanted your approval on it. Was your card the four of hearts?"

Henley nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, it was."

"Alright!"

The Horsemen let out a low cheer along with some applause.

"Well done, guys," Daniel said.

Merritt jabbed his finger at his chest and yelled, "I _told_ you we were prepared!"

Their fun was halted when a shrill cry echoed through the hideout. The Horsemen looked over at the table to find the source coming from Claire, bringing them to tilt their heads back with a groan.

"She slept for, what, five minutes?" Jack asked, exhaustion creeping into his voice.

Daniel said, "I say Merritt takes care of it since he woke her up by yelling."

"I second that," Henley said.

"Alright, alright. I'll take the fall for it. I hear you loud and clear."

Merritt held his hands up in surrender as he walked over to Claire's seat. Leaning over to scoop her into his arms, he added, "And I hear you loud and clear too, little lady. Hey there."

Merritt gave her several bounces as he walked her about the room. "I'm sorry I woke you up, little Claire. You can blame Mr. Merritt for that one. But it's all good now. No worries. Just go on back to sleep."

Henley sighed. "Fingers crossed if we can get that to happen."

Daniel's eyes wandered around the room until he saw Claire's bag lying against one leg of the table. The head of a plush giraffe poked out from the top, making him raise his brow. His glance went between Claire's and the giraffe's, making an idea begin to form in his head.

It wasn't long before Daniel went over to Merritt's side and asked, "Can I see her for a second?"

"Yeah." Merritt slightly turned himself so that Claire's squealing face was looking at Daniel's.

"Hey, Claire. I think I know what's the matter. I see something stuck in your ear. Don't-Don't worry, though. Mr. Daniel will get it out."

Daniel placed his hand behind Claire's ear and started pulling it back and forth. He let out a small exhale.

"Wow, it's really stuck in there. Hang on."

With a hard tug, Daniel revealed the giraffe head from behind her ear.

"There it is! One more pull, okay?"

Daniel pulled again until the entire toy giraffe was revealed, its body being about the same size as Claire's. The Horsemen looked on with their mouths agape as Daniel waved the toy before her with a smile.

"Here you go. Is this a friend of yours? Do you want to hold it while you sleep?"

Daniel placed the giraffe in Claire's arms, and the baby squeezed it with her chubby hands. Once it was settled against her, her eyes began to droop once more.

Merritt couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Well, shit. He does have it in him."

"How did you do that?" Henley asked.

Daniel shrugged. "I looked around."

Merritt then moved back to the table to place the sleeping Claire back in her seat.

Henley said, "Okay, so while Daniel was over here being our saving grace, I got an idea that I think you guys will like."

"Shoot," Merritt said.

"I think Claire could probably use some fresh air, right? She's not used to being cooped up in here all day like we are. And I think we could probably use that fresh air too. So when her nap's done in an hour, what do you think about us all taking a little trip to Central Park?"

The Horsemen voiced a collective agreement, smiles beginning to grow on their faces. Jack's stretched the largest as he threw up his arms and cried, "Alright! Field trip!"

The Horsemen were quick to turn on him and shush him with a frantic look in their eyes.

"Oh shit. Sorry." Jack then made two thumbs up and brought his voice to a whisper. "Field trip!"


	5. Chapter 5

The ride from Queens to Central Park took longer than the Horsemen anticipated, no thanks to the fact that they were trying to fit four people, a baby, and all of her things into a train car. However, everything worked out once they arrived in the city and made their way to the park, walking along its paved paths surrounded by warm weather. As they approached one of its many playgrounds, where several children ran around to their heart's content and their parents watched from the side, Merritt tilted his head back with a sigh.

"I got to hand it to you, Henley. This was a great idea. I think we all needed to get out today."

"I told you." Henley then turned to Claire in her arms and gave her a small bounce with a smile. "Okay, Claire. What should we play with first?"

She looked around the area until she spotted a swing set off to the side. She let out a gasp when she found a vacant baby swing on the end, giving Claire another bounce.

"What about the swings? You look like a swing kind of girl. Huh? Do you want to go on the swings, Claire?"

Claire responded by grabbing onto a piece of Henley's hair and making a wide, gum-filled smile.

"I'll take that as a yes! Come on, sweetie."

The Horsemen began to walk in the direction of the swings, but Daniel stayed firm on the edge of the playground.

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to go find a bench to sit on," he said.

The others looked back and made the same disappointed grimace.

"Aw, come on, Daniel," Jack said. "It won't be for that long."

"I know, but I don't want to be in the sun too long. I can already feel it doing damage to my face."

"Oh, boo hoo!" Henley said.

Merritt added, "Put on some sunscreen!"

"Okay, sure. Do you have any?" Daniel asked as he crossed his arms.

Merritt opened his mouth to reply but was quick to close it. "Good point."

"Well, could you at least hold onto Claire's bag?" Henley asked as she held it out to Daniel.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you."

Daniel grabbed onto the strap of the bag then turned around, waving his hand behind him. "Have fun!"

He found an empty bench that stood in the shade several feet away and sat on the end of it, dropping the bag next to him with a sigh. He reached into his pockets and pulled out two coins, gripping them in his fingers. He then wove them through his fingers as he stared ahead at the scene, taking notice of the dozens of people that littered the park.

Before he could settle into a daze, Daniel heard a voice say beside him, "Well, looks like you got a friend whether you want one or not."

He looked over and shook his head with wide eyes when he saw Merritt sit on the other side of the bench. As he watched him lean back and drape his arm over the back, he asked, "What, are you actually getting sick of the kid?"

"No. I just thought I'd let Jack have some time with her. He's got to learn at some point."

Daniel nodded and turned to look in the direction of the swings. He chuckled when he saw Henley and Jack standing on opposite sides of the swing Claire now sat in. Jack gave the swing a small push that allowed Claire to swing back and forth, a tiny giggle escaping her mouth with each push. Henley cooed over her and clapped her hands with a cheer while Jack began to join in on the laughter.

Daniel made a small hum as a smirk appeared on his face. "It's funny. They almost look like a couple right now that's taking their kid to the park."

Merritt followed his gaze and found himself chuckling as well. "Hey, yeah. They kind of do."

"That'd be a good cover if they ever needed one while we're out."

"Yeah, that's a good point. You'll have to tell Dylan that one later." Merritt's eyes fell onto the bag beside Daniel, bringing him to nod at him. "You know, that was good what you did back there with Claire's toy."

"Hm?" Daniel looked over at Merritt then shrugged. "Oh, that. It was nothing. It was bound to happen at some point."

"Why the change of heart?"

"Oh, no. That was not a change of heart."

"You were practically playing with her."

"Well, none of what you guys were doing was working, so someone had to step in and do something. Believe me, I still think she's a nuisance."

"What do you have against kids, Daniel?"

"God, you make it sound like I have a vendetta against them. Look, I don't _hate_ kids. They're just...not my thing. I don't see the appeal in them like everyone else does."

When he didn't get a response, Daniel looked over and saw Merritt had shifted himself so that he was almost facing him. He had a focused look on his face as he stared at him, almost as if he were scanning him. Daniel tensed up and tried to move himself back, his face beginning to wince.

"God, please no. I do not need one of your readings right now."

"Too late. I'm already doing it." Merritt leaned back and folded his hands in his lap, never taking his eyes off Daniel's panicked gaze. "You know, you're actually not that hard to read. Everything's coming to me in a sort of-" He moved his hands forward in a gesture that resembled ocean waves. "-natural flow, one thing after the other."

"Oh, I'm an open book, am I?"

"You certainly are. Now let's see. You avoid kids because to you, kids mean responsibility. They're something bigger than yourself, which no one else is allowed to be."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"You don't want to be anywhere near kids because you'd be put in charge of a human being that you don't entirely have full control over."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Hold on. I didn't say I was done. Now kids leads to a big word that you are deathly afraid of: Commitment. You're scared of commitment. You can't settle on one person, my friend. No, you _like_ hopping from one girl to the next. Settling down with one is out of the question. And if your little pairing led to a trio-" Merritt let out a whistle. "Forget it. So that's why you push yourself away from kids."

He pointed at each of his points in a horizontal line in front of him. "Fear of commitment, fear of responsibility, fear of kids." Merritt held his two index fingers apart with a smirk. "It's all connected. So how did I do?"

Daniel couldn't meet Merritt's gaze, instead staring at the ground as he shifted around in his seat. His lips were small, and his eyes grew wide as his face paled over.

"You might be onto something."

"What did I tell you? I still got it."

Daniel whipped his head around, his usual sternness returning. "Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Just be open to hanging out with Claire! She's a baby. She's not contagious, and she won't bite. I mean, I don't think she will. She doesn't seem to have that much teeth yet. M-My point is you just have to try creating new relationships. Connecting with people isn't so bad, Daniel. Who knows? You might even meet someone you like."

For the first time that afternoon, Daniel let a smile cross onto his face. He looked away for a second to hum to himself then turned back to Merritt.

"When did you become the group therapist?"

"Hey, that's just the perks of mentalism. Plus, I got more than two decades worth of life lessons on all of you, so it's the mentalism combined with all this timely wisdom I've managed to gather up."

Daniel chuckled to himself and looked ahead, unable to deny that there was a certain warmth beginning to enter his heart.

~

The warmth faded when the Horsemen realized that they'd gotten on the wrong subway back to Queens. This made their trip back to the hideout much longer than it should have been, causing them to return to it in the late afternoon.

Daniel threw the front door open and stormed inside, a scowl firm on his face. "I can't believe you put us on the wrong train."

"I'm sorry, alright? It was the first one I saw," Jack said in a tired voice.

"Yeah, well next time, look for the train that says, 'Queens.' Alright? You cost us a lot of valuable practice time."

Henley set Claire down on the floor then let out a sigh as she stood back up. "Oh, come on, Danny. Lighten up. He said he was sorry."

"That kind of mistake is what gets us killed if we screw up at shows. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to be killed or screw up at our show. So I'm going to practice with the little time that we have left."

Daniel turned to leave but was stopped by Jack saying, "Wait, I have an idea. What if you practiced in front of Claire?"

Henley gasped with a smile. "Yes, oh my god! It'd be killing two birds with one stone!"

"No, I'm not practicing for someone that won't appreciate what I'm doing."

"Now Daniel, what did we talk about at the park?" Merritt called from the back of the room with his arms crossed.

"Hey, stay out of this."

"No, wait. What did you two talk about?" Henley asked.

"None of your business."

Merritt shrugged. "I was just telling him that he should spend some more time with Claire if he wants to improve on his people skills."

"Merritt!"

"What?"

"If you were a real therapist, you would know about patient confidentiality."

"Well, I'm not, so I'm going to talk shit about you all I want."

"Guys," Jack said. His call fell on silent ears, as Henley proceeded to step closer to Daniel.

"No, I think Merritt's onto something, Danny. Maybe you should spend some time with Claire."

"Look, I'll hang out with her on my own time."

"We only have today with her," Merritt said.

"Guys."

Daniel said, "Yes, just like we only have today to rehearse before exposing some corporate asshole in Boston. And I'd much prefer to take care of that right now than to take care of her."

"Why do you care so much about this show?" Henley asked.

"Why don't you?"

"Because we got this!"

"Guys!"

The Horsemen turned to Jack with a sigh. "What, Jack?"

"Uh, quick question."

Jack pointed ahead at the massive space that the group stood in, exposing the gray floor clear of any clutter. The Horsemen widened their eyes when they realized that was the problem. There was nothing—and no one—there.

"Where's Claire?"


	6. Chapter 6

The only sound that echoed throughout the hideout for the next several minutes was a frantic chorus shouting, "CLAIRE!" The Horsemen looked around every inch of the space, hoping to find any sign of Claire in the dim area.

"Claire!" Jack yelled as he scoped underneath the table.

Daniel looked behind the couch with an identical cry of, "Claire!"

Merritt poked his head through the door to the back room, echoing, "Claire sweetie! Are you here?"

All he was met with was a dark room filled to the brim with supplies but no Claire in sight. He shut the door with a sigh then turned around to see Henley coming down the stairs from the second floor.

"Any luck?" he asked.

Henley sighed. "No. She’s not up there."

Merritt looked to the side with his hands pressed to his temples as a strained cry escaped his mouth. "Where the _hell_ _is_ _she_?"

"Alright, Merritt. Let's...Let's not panic, okay?"

"'Not panic?'" Daniel asked, his voice getting noticeably higher. "We lost a kid, Henley! We lost an actual baby. And not just any baby. We lost a member of the Eye's baby. And if she finds out, she is probably going to have us all killed."

"Can the Eye do that?" Jack spoke up.

"I don't know, but they seem like they would. Best case scenario is that they just kick us out of the Eye. Actually, that's not much better. Oh my _god_ , this is bad."

"How the hell did we lose her?"

"It's because we were distracted by Daniel's bitching," Merritt said. "So once again, we have only Daniel to thank for getting us in this mess."

Daniel made an accusatory point at Merritt. "Hey, do _not_ pin this all on me!"

"For once, I have to agree with Danny," Henley said. "We all should have been doing a better job of watching her, so we just have to look for her. I mean, she has to be around here somewhere, right?"

"Well, where else haven't we looked?"

"Shit, guys!"

All eyes turned to Jack, who now stood beside the front door to the hideout with open arms.

"We left the front door open!"

Merritt turned to the side and walked off as another strained cry left his mouth.

Daniel asked, "Sh-She couldn't have gone that far, right? She can't walk yet, so sh-she's probably only made it to the end of the street."

"Yeah, but New York's pretty freaking big. And some random person o-or a cop has probably found her by now," Jack said, his hand pressed to his forehead.

Merritt, bent over a chair at the table, picked his head up and asked, "Which one of you jackasses left the front door open?"

Henley stood in the center of the room while the boys yelled over each other, her body frozen as she stared out the front door. Her face had begun to pale over as her mind went to all the horrible things that could have happened to Claire if she truly was out there all alone in the city.

Before she could think any further, she was brought back to reality by her phone vibrating against her leg. Henley shook her head and reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. Her eyes widened in fear when she looked down at the screen, bringing her to turn to look at the others.

"Guys, shut up! Shut up!" she yelled. "It's Dylan!"

The Horsemen each let out a gasp at the name and froze, bringing the room to a hush. Henley then turned around and hit the "Accept" button, pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Dylan! What's up?" she asked in the calmest voice she could muster.

"Hey, Henley. I just wanted to check in on Claire and see how things are going."

"Oh, it's going great, actually! Yeah, she's been...so good. There really hasn't been any issues at all."

"Really? Wow, that's great. Don't tell the others, but I figured I'd ask you since I trust you the most. You know, since you're not Atlas and you haven't been corrupted by Merritt. I know you would just give me the truth and tell it like it is without sugarcoating it or hiding something from me."

Henley tucked in her lips as her eyes grew misty. She then closed them and gave a small nod, trying her best to hide the crack entering her voice.

"Wow, that's so nice of you to say. Thanks, Dylan."

"No problem. Anyway, I'm on my way back to Queens now. The investigation was an absolute nightmare, but that's Cowan for you. I'm walking towards the station now, so I should be to you guys in a little bit to pick up Claire."

"Yeah, we'll...we'll be here."

"Great." Dylan made a small sigh. "I'm glad I can trust you guys after all. I'll see you then."

"See you."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Henley was slow to pull the phone away and hang up before tucking it back into her pocket. She turned around to face the others and lowered her head, her voice sounding broken and defeated beyond belief as she avoided their eyes.

"Okay, now we can panic."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Dylan's on his way back."

Merritt was the first to leave the group, as he walked towards the back of the hideout and yelled, "Claire, where the _FUCK_ are you?"

"Claire!"

The Horsemen resumed their frantic search around the area, now adding the front area outside as part of places to look. They shouted her name at the top of their lungs, causing an evident strain to appear in them the longer they yelled.

Daniel stood in the center of the hideout, racking his brain for ideas as the sound of Claire's name filled the air. A thought soon entered his mind, making him bring his head up with wide eyes.

"Guys, guys, wait," he said. "Come here. I have an idea."

As the others clamored around him, Merritt said, "This better be good."

"Don't you dare laugh. I'm being completely serious about this."

Daniel then cleared his throat and looked down, his fingers curled into an arch as he held his hands out at his side. There was a slight waver to his voice as he gradually brought his head up, but the words came out crystal clear.

_Wh-Who’s peeking out from under a stairway,_

_Calling a name that’s lighter than air?_

Merritt was quick to pick up on what Daniel was going for, causing him to join in on the song.

_Who’s bending down to give me a rainbow?_

_Everyone knows it’s Windy._

Henley and Jack widened their eyes and exchanged a glance, the plan settling into their heads as well. One by one, the Horsemen scattered and resumed their search, singing the song as loud as they could to get Claire's attention.

_Who’s tripping down the streets of the city,_

_Smiling at everybody she sees?_

_Who’s reaching out to capture a moment?_

_Everyone knows it’s Windy._

_And Windy has stormy eyes_

_That flash at the sound of lies._

_And Windy has wings to fly_

Henley _: Above the clouds._

Jack _: Above the clouds._

Daniel _: Above the clouds._

Merritt _: Above the clouds!_

All _: Who’s tripping down the streets of the city,_

_Smiling at everybody she sees?_

_Who’s reaching out to capture a moment?_

_Everyone knows it’s-_

The sound of a shrill laugh made the Horsemen stop in the center of the room, aiming their heads towards the front door. Claire came crawling into the hideout from outside with a bright and oblivious smile on her face.

The Horsemen were close to bursting into tears when they saw her coming towards them, the color returning to their faces as they grinned from ear to ear. "CLAIRE!"

The group ran over to Claire with Daniel being the first one to scoop her up. Everyone crowded around them and heaved a giant sigh of relief as they kept their eyes on her.

"Oh, Claire, you're okay!" Henley said.

Merritt added, "She's been here the whole time."

"Oh my god, we were so worried about you, Claire." Daniel hugged Claire to his chest and closed his eyes as he let out a sigh. He opened them to find his teammates staring at him with raised brows, causing him to slump his shoulders and roll his eyes.

"Alright, fine. I like the kid."

"We did it!" Jack said.

The Horsemen let out a cheer as they embraced Daniel in a hug, making him shake his head with a smile. It looked like they had gotten everything they needed to do that day done after all.


	7. Chapter 7

The last thing Dylan expected to see when he returned to the hideout was a calm scene with everyone still alive and no injuries sustained. But that's exactly what he found once he opened the door and stepped inside.

Dylan stood at the hideout entrance and shook his head when he saw Daniel and Jack sitting with Claire on the couch while Merritt and Henley rehearsed a trick on the other side of the room. Daniel held Claire on his lap and smiled whenever Jack reached over to tickle her stomach. Each giggle that escaped her mouth made them do the same, and Daniel would give her a small bounce on his leg.

"What's Mr. Jack doing, Claire?" he asked in a shrill voice. "Is he being silly? Huh? Is Mr. Jack being silly with you?"

"Hey, we're just having a little fun."

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with that."

"Well, this is a sight I never thought I'd see," Dylan spoke up.

The Horsemen each turned to look at him and let out a gasp, their smiles stretching across their faces. "Dylan!"

"Hey, guys. I'm...actually pretty impressed that everything looks the same as it did this morning. And that Claire seems to be okay."

"See? I told you we could be trusted," Henley said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up that I was wrong. I'm just glad that today is over." Dylan turned to Daniel and wagged his finger between him and Claire. "So, uh, how much did they have to pay you to make this happen?"

The Horsemen let out a friendly laugh with Jack playfully punching Daniel's arm. Daniel looked at the floor for a moment, shaking his head with a smile.

"No, no force was needed for this. I decided to do this all on my own."

"Is that so?"

"Uh huh. Don't get me wrong, kids are still gross. But, uh..." Daniel held up Claire level to his face and smiled. "This one's not that bad."

"And I learned a few things about taking care of kids too," Jack said as he held up his hand.

Henley pointed at him and added, "Yes, that's right. Jack got a crash course in babysitting as well."

"I have faith that he'll be more than ready to take care of a kid should the situation arise," Merritt said. He turned to Daniel and added, "The jury's still out on you, Atlas."

Daniel ignored their laughter as he glared to himself but was pulled out of his state when Dylan came over. He plucked Claire from his arms and placed her into his own then moved to the table to grab her stuff.

"Well, I'm glad I'll be able to give a good report to the Eye about this."

"Yes, the Four Horsemen take very good care of their fellow members," Henley said.

Jack added, "And I wouldn't mind if she came back now and then."

As the others chimed in in agreement, Merritt said, "Yeah, it was a good break from all that hard work you make us do all the time."

Dylan rolled his eyes with a smirk as he placed Claire and took her up with her things in his arms. "Well, we better be off. You guys are free to go too. Thanks again for doing this."

"No trouble at all, Dylan," Merritt said as he began waving.

The others joined in and called, "Bye! Bye, Claire!"

"We'll see you soon!"

Dylan then turned out and left the hideout once more, taking Claire with him as he shut the door behind him. Once alone, the Horsemen's smiles fell and gave way to exhausted expressions. Merritt was the first one to voice what they were all thinking.

"So none of us are having kids. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Thus, the Four Horsemen departed from their hideout and ended their day with the wish that they didn't have to go through it again for a long, _long_ time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Be on the lookout for new works by me coming soon! :)


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